A Warrior's Love
by EmiliaElliot18
Summary: This is the thoughts of the characters Mulan, Phillip and Aurora as they traveled to escape the wraith. My first Once Upon a Time fanfiction! Mulan/Phillip Phillip/Aurora.


**So this is my first non-twilight related fic! This fic is about the show Once Upon a Time! **

**Let me know what you think! :) **

**REVIEW!**

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Prince Phillip chopped through the thick set of thorns that was blocking the path to his beloved. If the rumors were true, if everything he believed was true, then all it would take is a single kiss upon her lips to break the spell.

He sliced through the final vine and took a deep breath of anticipation as his eyes settled on the beautiful woman resting upon the pedestal. It had been 28 years since he'd seen her, but she hadn't changed a bit. Regina's horrible curse had left the entire kingdom devastated, but for some reason, it skipped them. They hadn't aged, but they didn't get sent away like the rest of their world did.

He walked slowly to where she lay delicately. He could hear the quiet click of armor behind him as his companion paced silently behind him.

His stomach swayed uneasily, but he pushed it aside as he walked up to Aurora's head. She was more beautiful than he remembered.

Prince Phillip looked up to see his companion.

"If this works, we don't tell her everything, not right away," he said softly.

Phillip's companion nodded, but didn't speak.

He gazed at her beautiful face for a moment before he leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips.

He felt a rush of wind as the woman beneath him gasped a breath. Her eyes sprung open and her eyes searched around for her savior.

"Phillip?" she questioned. Confusion marred her eyes.

He laughed in happiness and shock. "Yes, Aurora," he whispered.

She smiled at him. "I told you not to come after me," she scolded softly. But she wasn't mad at all-she was happier than she could express to see her true love.

He chuckled and leaned down to kiss her again. He stopped after a long moment and helped Aurora sit up. His eyes caught movement behind her to see his companion turn her back on the couple and walk away. He felt his stomach twist again.

"How long have I been asleep?" Aurora asked. Her eyes wandered around the area, and she was surprised to see the destruction and devastation. "What happened?"

"It doesn't matter," Philip said, trying to distract himself and her. "The worst of it is over. Now that we're together, we'll restore this castle and our kingdom and as we dreamt, we'll be here always."

Aurora's mind was foggy and full of confusion. The kingdom wasn't anything like it had been when Maleficent had cursed her. Everything was in ruins, and no one was there to welcome her back. She expected people, her family, servants, someone.

But it was empty.

"Where is everyone? Why does it need to be rebuilt?" she demanded.

Phillip immediately tried to soothe her fears. "It's a long story, and you, my love, need rest."

Aurora had to suppress an eye roll. "I've had my fill of rest."

He smiled and helped her off the pedestal. "Then come with me. Our people have gathered in a new safe haven. We must join them!"

It began to make sense to Aurora now.

"A safe haven? From Maleficent?" she asked nervously. The very name sent shivers down her spine.

"No," Phillip said immediately. "Worry not. She can no longer harm us," he promised her.

"First she goes after my mother, then me," Aurora said quickly. "Forgive me if I'm still a bit wary."

"Don't be. There are new dangers now," Phillip said. His mind went to Regina and the curse. "But nothing we can't handle."

He leaned in and kissed her again, and she smiled beneath his kiss.

While the happy couple had their reunion, Phillip's companion wandered to the other side of the courtyard. Aurora and Phillip were too much to handle, so surveying the grounds would keep the mind busy.

Then everything happened really quickly.

The ground felt as though it was shaking, and a rumble began to emerge from below the earth. The companion whipped out a sword, desperate to protect the prince and Aurora from whatever evil was about to make itself known.

A creature, darker than anything any of them had ever seen, emerged from beneath the ground, bursting through and knocking the companion back.

Prince Phillip sprung into action, determined to save the two people he cared most about in this world from whatever this creature was. He pulled his sword out of its sheath. He swung the sword vigorously at the creature as Aurora screamed his name in terror from behind him.

The sword did nothing to the creature until Phillip struck a pendant hanging from its neck. The metal hit the ground with a loud clank and, after a brief moment of hesitation, the creature turned and fled into the sky with a loud screech.

"What was that thing?" Aurora gasped as Phillip leaned down to grab the pendant.

He stared blankly into the sky, looking for a sign of the creature.

"Something bad."

They were all silent for a long moment as Phillip stared blankly at the pendent in his hand. He felt a brief burning sensation where the medallion touched his skin, but he thought nothing of it.

"Qui shen," the companion said, breaking the silence that had fallen over the three.

They stared at the companion in confusion. The language was foreign to Aurora and Phillip.

"In your land, you would call it a wraith."

Aurora stared at the companion, shocked at the feminine voice that came out of the heavily armored companion.

"I'm sorry," Aurora said, looking back and forth between Phillip and the companion. "Who is this?"

"A friend," she said softly. Phillip nodded at her, and the companion took off her helmet to reveal a beautiful woman.

Aurora stuttered in surprise. "You're…a girl!" she exclaimed.

"A woman," the companion replied, slightly offended. "My name is Mulan."

Phillip stared between the two women. "In your absence, she's helped me like no other. We fought many battles together," he explained as Aurora stared with a face of disgust.

"With a woman?" Aurora questioned disgustedly.

Phillip nodded in affirmation.

"And now we have another one to wage," Mulan said as she watched Phillip and Aurora stare each other down. "The qui shen, the wraith, is one of the most dangerous creatures in all the known lands—a soul sucker.

"According to legend, it marks its victims and removes their souls, damning them for all eternity," she finished solemnly. Mulan had a bad feeling in her stomach. She spent many years with Phillip, and she could read him like a book. Something had changed.

Their conversation was interrupted by a ghostly sounding choir of voices. The voices sounded as though they were being smothered as they screamed. It made Mulan's skin crawl, but she had heard worse in her time.

"Those are the sounds of the souls it's trapped trying to escape," Mulan explained to the frightened looking couple next to her. "But fortune favored us as we all avoided the mark." As she spoke, she subtly looked at Prince Phillip, desperate to see his hands. She needed to know if he was safe from the qui shen.

"We need to begin our journey," she finished as she looked seriously at both Aurora and Phillip.

She walked away from the couple behind her and tried to block out the sweet words Phillip told his intended to calm her.

Phillip hugged Aurora to his chest and inspected his hand as he did so.

He froze when he saw the mark on his hand, the mark that meant the wraith would be coming after him. He was damned, and there was nothing he could do to save himself.

All he could do was save them.

*8*

Mulan rode a few feet in front of Aurora and Phillip as they traveled forward on horseback. She didn't want to be behind the loving couple. She couldn't bare it. She knew that they were betrothed, that they were meant to be, but that didn't change anything. That didn't change the strange feeling she got in her stomach every time they were in the same room, or the way her heart fluttered when he looked at her in that certain way.

When they came to a slight clearing, Mulan spoke in a gentle voice so she didn't startle the horses.

"We should camp here tonight," she said as her horse huffed. "The wraith only appears when light is absent. That's why it ran when it first appeared. Light is its adversary."

"And you want to stop now?" Aurora asked condescendingly, as though Mulan was stupid.

"It's looking for a mark—something alive." Mulan felt as though she was speaking to a three-year-old, but kept her patience in check for Phillip. "Our best bet is to be still until night passes."

"She's right," Phillip said, coming to Mulan's defense. "We have to rest here." Phillip realized that this was his chance, his chance to save Aurora.

His chance to save Mulan.

Phillip and Mulan worked in silence to set up the camp while Aurora stood and watched Phillip silently. Mulan tried to block out the banter between the two by busying herself with the horses.

Phillip stared into the eyes of the woman he had loved for over 28 years. She smiled at him, and pure love was visible in her eyes. He loved her, and she loved him. But this time, true love wouldn't be enough to save him.

He told Aurora that he was going to find wood to build her a fire and that he would be back in five minutes. Before he left, he kissed her passionately, allowing the love he had always felt for her to seep into the kiss.

"That's a 'see you in five minutes kiss?'" she giggled breathlessly.

He laughed with her, putting her at ease. "I'm making up for lost time." He paused for a brief moment. "I love you."

She smiled widely. "I love you, too."

No one saw the tears that fell from Phillip's eye as he walked away from everything he ever truly cared about.

He didn't even get to say goodbye.

*8*

Mulan anxiously tried to start a fire as Aurora listened to the clicking of the flint silently from her make-shift tent Phillip had pitched. Her heart dropped when she heard the wraith roar loudly from above. It was getting darker.

"Where's Phillip?" Aurora suddenly asked.

Mulan looked up at Aurora with confusion. "I thought he was in your tent." She spoke as calmly as she could.

"He said he was making a fire," Aurora said as she looked around anxiously.

"I'm making the fire," Mulan said as everything began to connect in her mind.

"I can see that," Aurora snapped back.

Mulan stood up suddenly. "He left," she said as she looked around the small clearing. "The horses are gone."

"Why would he leave?" Aurora said as she began to tremble in fear. Why would he leave her behind?

Mulan spoke calmly, but there was an edge to her voice that hadn't been there before. "Because he was marked," she said simply.

She reached down to pack up the flint, her mind set on doing what she could to save Phillip.

"What are you doing?" Aurora asked as Mulan began to move purposefully around the campsite.

"Going after him. He's sacrificing himself to save you," Mulan said anxiously.

"No, for both of us. We have to get him!" Aurora insisted. Aurora wasn't dim enough to miss the way Phillip looked at Mulan. He cared for Mulan on a level Aurora didn't understand and wasn't quite comfortable with. But if Phillip cared, Aurora would do what she could.

"I'm going alone," Mulan said, ignoring Aurora's words that gave her a false sense of hope. "You'll only slow me down."

Mulan began to run away as fast as she could and ignored Aurora she yelled after her, begging her to wait.

"No! I won't slow you down! Mulan! Mulan!" She screamed after her.

Mulan kept running.

"Mulan, wait!"

*8*

Mulan had a torch gleaming above her head as she searched for signs of Prince Phillip. She knew how his mind worked and hoped that would be enough to find him.

To save him.

As she paused to check the ground, her heart skipped a beat as she heard a horse huff behind her. She twirled around with the sword clenched tightly in her hands.

"I found one of the horses," Aurora said with a self satisfied smirk on her face. "I'm coming with you."

"You need to stay here," Mulan insisted. "It's dangerous." She wouldn't let Phillip's whishes be in vain.

"I wasn't asking for your permission," Aurora said petulantly.

"That thing out there is dangerous!" Mulan exclaimed, trying to get Aurora to understand. "And Phillip—he left to protect you, so even if I don't believe in his methods I'm going to honor his wishes. I'm going to keep you safe."

"I never asked him to," Aurora said. She didn't think she needed to be protected, but Mulan knew that she had no idea what horrors were really in this world. She had been sheltered as a child and didn't understand how easily things like the qui shen could kill.

"You never had to," Mulan said seriously. "Everything he does, he does for you, and now he's going to die for you."

Mulan understood what that kind of dedication felt like. She knew that she would lay down her life in an instant for Phillip without a second thought.

"Love is sacrifice," Mulan spoke her thought out loud. "Something you clearly don't understand," she added.

"I'm not going to let him face that alone!" Aurora said as Mulan started to walk away from her.

"He won't. But with all due respect, your highness, Phillip's best chance is me," she said with conviction. And Mulan wanted nothing more than to give Phillip his best chance.

There was a long moment of silence as Mulan went back to examining the ground in front of her with her torch. Aurora was silent, and you could practically hear the gears in her mind turning as she figured out what was going on behind the mask Mulan put up.

"You love him." She didn't state it as a question, because she already knew. Mulan loved Phillip, her Phillip.

"What?" Mulan said all too quickly.

"Phillip," Aurora said. "You love him, too."

Mulan tried to brush it off. "I owe him much. We fought many battles together, side by side." She turned to look at Aurora. "Nothing more."

"Deny it all you want. I know love when I see it," Aurora said confidently. Aurora knew the look in Mulan's eyes whenever Phillip was mentioned. It was the same look Aurora had seen in her own eyes hundreds of times. It was the look she saw in Phillip's eyes when he looked at her.

And the look in Phillip's eyes when he looked at Mulan.

"You're wrong," Mulan said stubbornly.

The conversation was effectively ended when a wraith sounded in the distance.

Mulan and Aurora ran forward, desperate to find Phillip. It didn't take them long; they only had to follow the shriek of the wraith.

"No, stay back!" Phillip yelled once Mulan and Aurora came into sight.

"Phillip, what are you doing!?" Aurora yelled as she attempted to run to him.

"You know what I'm doing!" he yelled back frantically as he waved the torch around in front of him.

"No, please," Aurora begged. "We can help you fight!" she stood next to him now, her eyes pleading with him to rethink this.

Mulan remained silent, and you could see an idea forming in her eyes.

"Go!" Phillip yelled. "It will find me. I've been marked. It's too late for me!" Phillip's whole world was right in front of him, and he needed both of them to leave, to go away.

He would rather die a hundred times than see either of them get killed.

The wraith's shriek sounded again. It was almost upon them.

"Go! There's no other way!" Phillip yelled.

"Yes there is," Mulan said suddenly. "Give me the talisman. I can mark myself, you can live!" The more she thought about it, the more brilliant it seemed. Phillip would be happy, and she wouldn't have to lose him.

"This is my choice—to save you, to save both of you!" Phillip said fiercely to Mulan.

"No, Phillip!" Aurora interrupted. "I don't want to live without you," she said as tears began to stream down her face."

He shook his head. "Neither do I!"

Suddenly, the wraith screamed loudly. The all stared up into the sky and, after a moment, a dark shadowy figure appeared and headed straight towards them.

"You two each keep each other safe!" Phillip yelled as he held the torch up to the sky.

The wraith slowed to a stop and hovered like a ghost in front of Phillip. He looked into the red-eyed face of his destiny, of his doom, and let the torch fall to his side. Phillip knew that Aurora stood to his left, terrified, while Mulan stood to his right, ready to fight. But neither true love nor a sword could save him now. It was over.

He turned his head over his right shoulder and spoke his final words to the woman he knew he loved more than anyone else in the world.

"I love you."

And then the wraith sucked his soul from his body.

Mulan and Aurora both sobbed and fell to their knees as they watched the man they loved fall to the grown, dead.

Once his soul was completely gone, the talisman absorbed the wraith, and everything went black.

As Mulan and Aurora cried onto the lifeless chest of Prince Phillip, Mulan could only be soothed by one thing.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew that Phillip's last words were for her.

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**I ship them so hard, I can't even tell you.**

**Please review! I love to know what you think :) **


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